Legislators Take Aim At Palm Beach Id Law

TALLAHASSEE — Lampooned in comic strips and declared unconstitutional by a federal judge, the Town of Palm Beach`s worker identification law may meet its final defeat in the state Legislature.

The House gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a bill (HB 133) banning municipalities from requiring blue-collar and domestic workers to register with the police.

``I will vote for the bill,`` said Rep. Eleanor Weinstock, D-Palm Beach. ``It`s really in keeping with the philosophy of the state and the nation.``

The bill, sponsored by the Community Affairs Committee, is scheduled for final action Thursday by the House. Similar bills (SB 431 and 599) have been introduced in the Senate.

Palm Beach`s law, in effect since 1939, requires certain low-paid workers to be fingerprinted and photographed for an ID card to be carried when in town. Opponents charge the law, declared unconstitutional in December, is discriminatory.

In an effort to raise the veil of criticism surrounding Palm Beach and its law, Rep. Frank Messersmith, R-Lake Worth, removed the town`s name from the measure by amendment Tuesday.

``The Town of Palm Beach is not the only town to have one of these laws,`` he said. ``This (bill) kind of singles them out.``

Messersmith said he also may seek an amendment Thursday to ensure that the bill would not prohibit municipalities from conducting background checks for employees. The amendment would require approval by two-thirds of the House.

Lake Worth and eight other Palm Beach County cities have identification laws similar to the Town of Palm Beach`s law. Ten cities in Broward County also have identification ordinances.

But it`s Palm Beach that has drawn the most attention for its local law.

In a series of scathing cartoons, Doonesbury cartoonist Gary Trudeau compared the town with South Africa, charging the law discriminated against blacks.

Network news focused its cameras on the town.

And last December, U.S. District Judge Norman Roettger declared the local law unconstitutional.

The town, which has issued more than 120,000 identification cards under the ordinance, has not enforced the measure since December.

``We`re in the process of appealing it,`` said Palm Beach Town Council member Paul Ilyinsky. ``I think we should have a certain amount of control over our own destiny.``

Ilyinsky said the appeal would be dropped, though, if the Legislature prohibits such ordinances.

``People think that this is a Gestapo kind of thing, but it`s not,`` he said.

Rep. Carol Hanson, R-Boca Raton, was among only two Community Affairs Committee members who voted against the bill when it was passed by the committee last October.

Boca Raton has a similar worker identification ordinance, and Hanson said Tuesday she was uncertain how she`ll vote when the bill is up for final action.